Naruto, the Genius Ninja of Konoha
by Jerot
Summary: As the title says, Genius Naruto fic. Minato is alive is the big change, and future events stem from that. The fic is also shown through Naruto in the first perspective. Pairings will be established over time. Read & Review please!
1. Chapter 1

- - -

Have you ever had that feeling like you don't know yourself? Well, I've felt like that all my life, and I can't figure out why. Every day, I get up out of my bed, and feel as if I am still dreaming. As the day drags on, the feeling fades, but it never leaves completely. It sits in the back of my mind, poking at me, playing with me. I'm pretty sure it's not normal. It is too common an experience for me to believe otherwise. But then again, I have never lived a normal life.

My name is Namikaze Naruto, the only son of the revered Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato. As long as I can remember, I have lived in the Hokage Manor, the most prestigious building in all of Konoha. Even greater in prestige than the Hyuuga manor. I'm not so sure though; the Hyuuga manor is quite nice, at least on the few times I went to banquets there with my dad. It is very clean and neat, even neater than the Uchiha manor. Well, neater than the Uchiha manor before the massacre.

But in the Hokage manor, everything is easy for me. Servants attending to me whenever I need something. The best tutors that money could buy. I had a better education at the age of seven than most kids have by the time they graduate the academy. Now, the day after graduation from the Academy, I can keep up with the paperwork that my father has to do. I find it boring, but I still understand it. Most basic genin couldn't.

I graduated the academy with full honors this year, even beating out Uchiha Sasuke this year. Perfect marks on everything. No one has done that in the history of the institution. Most kids who are smarter than the kids their own age just graduated early, like Uchiha Itachi for example. But then again, he's in an insane asylum now. I just wanted to keep level with the people my age, even though it would have been easy to graduate at ten or younger. I think my dad saw what happened to Kakashi and thought that it would better for me to form bonds with ninja my own age. But even though I stayed with my generation, I am not nearly as popular as Uchiha Sasuke.

Most of the kids are polite to me, but keep distant. Sometimes, the girls giggle about me, but their attention is typically focused on Sasuke. I'm not sure, but I think it's really the dark and brooding complex he has that really attracts the girls. After the incident with his brother, he never really was the same. Though, no one really wants to talk about it. Its probably quite a sore subject with him.

My only true friends are the slackers: Shikamaru, Kiba, and Chouji. They're probably the only ones in the entire village who don't care about who I am. They just care about fun. Eating with Chouji, running around with Kiba, and Shougi with Shikamaru is enough to keep me entertained. They are my best friends, and the closest I get to the Konoha public.

And I must admit, it annoys the teachers to no end that I hang out with the slackers. Serves them right.

The few times that I have gone outside the manor, I have received very mixed results. Sometimes, I almost get trampled by people who want to "see the wonderful son of the honorable Hokage". Other times, all I get are glares as everyone tries to avoid me. This inconsistency adds to the unreality of my life. I guess that it is part of my father's reputation, he does have many enemies, but in our hometown? Somehow, I think it is different. But, I have to stay brave, just like my father. He killed the Kyuubi, just after I was born. So, I never let myself worry about the looks people give me. It would be silly.

But that's not important now. What is important is that today is the assignment of the teams. This will shape what my life is like for the next five years or so. My teammates will work through the genin and chuunin ranks alongside me, and we would be close for many years after. I won't lie; this is quite possibly the most important part of my life so far.

- - -

It is time. Ten o'clock in the morning. Everyone is here. Kiba, Chouji, Shikamaru and I take the back row, sharing it with Shino and Hinata. Those two are the quiet ones of our class. They're some of the best students, from the strongest of clans, but they're dead quiet. I can't remember more than a handful of times when they initiated conversations of their own since I've known them.

In front of us is the rest of the class. They're good kids in general, but I haven't really talked to them nearly as much. To them, I'm probably as quiet as Shino and Hinata. But among them is a knot of new kunoichi. I can't see what they're fawning over, but that doesn't stop me from knowing. Honestly, I feel sorry for Sasuke. I know I couldn't handle the attention. Pretty soon, I would have begun to ignore them, just like he does. Empathy is such a wonderful tool. It allows you to see 'Underneath the underneath'.

But now, Iruka-sensei walks in the class. Even though he stands respectfully at his desk at the front of the room, the level of volume in the class refusing to change. Quite honestly, I don't understand how Konoha is so famous for its ninja if the students wont sit still for more than a couple of minutes. Iruka clears his throat and calls out to the class,

"Sit down, everyone! I know you're excited about graduating yesterday, but it's time to assign teams!"

After a couple of seconds, people find seats and respectfully looked up at the Academy instructor; apparently they have reached the point where they begin to regulate themselves. Less than a week ago, it would have taken much more stringent efforts by Iruka-sensei to get us to pay attention. I guess that once the rank of genin was bestowed upon us, we took things more seriously. We don't see ourselves as kids anymore, we are adults of Konoha - or at least, that's what all the ninja in the village say. Can I really believe that a single day makes a difference in our maturity? Quite honestly, I don't think that its time that changes people, but rather experiences.

Iruka is calling out the teams now. I listen intently for my name, but to no avail. For the first six teams, no one I knew was called. But, Iruka-sensei calls out the seventh one.

"Team Seven! Namikaze Naruto, Inzukuza Kiba, and Haruno Sakura."

Screams of anguish come from the pink haired wretch known as Sakura. As soon as she found out she wasn't on the same team as her 'Sasuke-kun,' she just crumpled in her seat. I understand how upset she is, but it still feels a bit rude that she would seem so upset over it. I don't know about Kiba and Akamaru, but I know I felt a little bad about it. I mean, is it really bad? Now it seems like she really doesn't like us. I bet she doesn't. But not like it matters. We only have to work together for the forseeable future (or until we become Chuunin and get reassigned). After Sakura quiets down, Iruka conspicuously clears his throat and continues.

Looking down at his chart, he visibly stops, surprised by whatever he sees. "You three will be instructed by Jiraya, the Toad Sage."

A gasp falls over the entire room. Typical of my father. I think when my mom died, he freaked about raising me right. Ever since, he has gotten me the best of everything. Private tutors, chuunin housekeepers, and now he pulled strings with his old sensei to teach my team. I never asked for it, but honestly, I don't mind too much. Even though many people will be angry for my father's actions, the benefit from having a legendary sensei is undeniable. I think I'm going to have a talk with him later, though. His actions seem a bit inappropriate. Part of me hoped that he would have shown fairness and assigned Jiraya to another team, I think.

Turning in my seat, I grin and quietly high-five Kiba. We're both happy that we at least have one good friend on our team. Life as a genin cell is going to be wonderful - training together, working on missions together - it's going to be awesome. But, just as quickly, we turn back to observe Iruka. Just because we know our teams doesn't mean we're not interested in the other ones. Iruka is calling out the next team.

"Team Eight! Aburame Shino, Hyuuga Hinata, and Uchiha Sasuke. You will be instructed by Hatake Kakashi, the Copycat Ninja."

Now Sakura cackles evilly as the rest of Sasuke's fan girls angst filled cries permeate the room. While Sasuke remains emotionless, I'm sure that on the inside, he is rejoicing. This is because every team is two boys, one girl. The only girl in the graduating class not interested in him was Hinata. Such a statistical anomaly is unheard of. Even I can't calculate that. Shikamaru may be that intelligent, though. I'll probably ask him later. Team nine is also a whole bunch of nobodies, kids who weren't particularly stupid, but didn't show drive or personality. They'd probably hit Chuunin and become pencil pushers. So, then, Team Ten must be…

"Team Ten! Yamanaka Ino, Akimichi Chouji, and Nara Shikamaru. You three will be instructed by Sarutobi Asuma, previous bodyguard to the Fire Daimyo and son to the Sandaime Hokage."

I knew that they were going to be assigned before Iruka-sensei even called out their names. The InoShikaChou team is back for another generation. How do I know, you ask? Well, my father didn't have a whole bunch of stories that his parents told him when he was little. So, he based some recurring characters after the InoShikaChou team, consisting of Shikamaru's, Ino's and Chouji's parents. They were famous for their compatible styles that allowed them to defeat the most powerful of foes. It was only natural that their children be paired up to continue the tradition. It also helped that I caught a peek of the assignment folder. But, still, I feel sorry for Shikamaru.

"It's too bad that you have to have Ino on your team, Shikamaru." I tell him. My condolences truly go out to him – Ino is one of the worst in the unofficial Sasuke Fan Club. She's got some of the best marks in the class, mind you, but whenever that boy is around, its as if she's a five year old again.

"Yeah, it's going to be way too troublesome" He replies, not even bothering to raise his head from the desk.

"Those are the teams; please wait for your sensei to arrive!" Iruka calls out to us. Immediately, the door opens up. Two men and a woman enter the classroom. I have never seen them before, but I'm betting that the men are Jiraya and Asuma. I've read about them. Jiraya is overly flamboyant and energetic, and starting to go through his fifties. The man with the white hair and moderately bright red and green clothing obviously matches that description. Then there's Asuma. He's supposed to be a veritable giant, about two meters tall, and has a chain smoking problem. Also, he's the son of the previous Hokage, so he's supposed to be a dead ringer for the old man. That guy perfectly fits the profile. Jiraya takes the slip from Iruka, and turns toward the class.

"Inzukuza Kiba, Haruno Sakura, and Namikaze Naruto. Meet on the roof!" And with that, he disappears in an overly theatrical puff of smoke. I make my quick goodbyes to Shikamaru and Chouji. Kiba and Akamaru do as well. Then, we make our way out of the room as Asuma and the Kunoichi who I don't recognize call their teams. We wait outside for Sakura before making our way up the stairs. The pink haired genin is still obviously distraught. Even though Sasuke ended up on a team with none of the girls that obsessed over him, she was stillupset that she wasn't chosen to be on his team.

"It's all your fault, you know." She informs me through her sniffles as we ascend the stairs to the rooftop.

"Huh?" I ask, completely bewildered.

"Konoha tradition is that the highest scoring genin is paired up with the lowest scoring genin." She says "If you hadn't beaten out Sasuke-kun for this years Academy Genius honor, it would have been me, Kiba, and Sasuke-kun!" And once again, she bursts into tears. Once again, I am confused. I don't know whether to yell at her for her rudeness, or attempt to comfort her. I take the easy way out, and just pretend that she isn't there. It's awkward, and I really don't feel comfortable standing next to someone so upset. I guess that the only way I'll become comfortable with it is through extended exposure, which is ultimately uncomfortable sounding. But, we make it to the roof door, and throw it open, the sunshine assaulting our eyes.

- - -

Jiraya sits all three of us down in the rooftop booth. Even though the color is faded, it's surprisingly comfortable, and we sink down into the seats.

"Okay, I believe that introductions are in order." Jiraya tells us. "To keep it simple, let's hear your likes, dislikes, and ambitions."

Immediately, Sakura raises her hand.

"Jiraya Sensei. Can you go first? So we can see what you want us to do?"

Jiraya nods his head. He was probably expecting that response from at least one of us.

"All right. My name is Jiraya. I like many things, particularly activities that are inappropriate for minors. I dislike getting on the wrong side of Tsunade-chan. And, for my ambitions… " He gazes past us, his eyes upon the Hokage monument. "I have succeeded any ambitions I set for myself earlier in life."

Damn… he is a super-pervert. I thought that my father was just joking… and I'm named after one of his books.

"Okay, now it's your guys turns." Jiraya tells us. "Pinky, you're first"

Sakura splutters in anger before speaking "My name is Haruno Sakura, not Pinky! I like a certain someone…" She looks away from all of us blushing "I hate Ino-pig and Naruto-teme" She glares at me again. Honestly, I don't know what I'm going to do, being on a team with her. "And as for goals…" She blushes again. I can easily imagine what her goals are, but I'm not really proud of this.

"Okay…" Jiraya says, clearly not impressed with her. I'm not surprised. She has the maturity of a first year academy student. I quite honestly hope that going on actual ninja missions gets her to grow up. Either that, or she'll die. Don't get me wrong, I don't like being around her most of the time – her Sasuke obsession practically consists of every fiber of her being. However, I like to think she has the potential to be a successful ninja. I've seen her hit Kiba before – she has a really nasty hook. "Dog-breath, you're up next."

Kiba growls, and moves in his seat like he's going try to hit Jiraya. Immediately, I put a hand on his shoulder. As soon as I do this, he calms down. He knows I'm familiar with the old man. Heck, everyone knows he taught my father! And either he took it as I was reminding him that he is our sensei, that he's a family friend, or the fact that Jiraya could beat him without even really thinking about it. What matters is that he showed restraint. The instinctive trust is heartening; we're already a team before we've gone on our first mission.

"My name is Inzukuza Kiba" He says in a barely contained growl. "This is Akamaru. We like chasing cats, eating steak, and playing tag with Naruto. I _hate_ rude people, and cats. My goal is to become the greatest dog-nin ever!" Akamaru yips in agreement.

"Wonderful." Jiraya says. This time, you can tell that he thinks that Kiba is an idiot, but everyone does. The thing I do get from him is that he's impressed by Kiba's enthusiasm. Everyone knows that determination and hard work get one farther than innate talent in the long run. "Finally, the runt."

I just ignored his insult. It was designed as a probe to gauge maturity. By bypassing it, he'll see me as either smart or polite, maybe both. Or maybe he knows that I saw what he was doing, and am just giving the appropriate response. I'm not sure how good at reading he is. "My name is Namikaze Naruto. I like eating with Chouji, playing Shougi with Shikamaru and tag with Kiba and Akamaru. As for dislikes… I'm not sure what I dislike." Jiraya gives me a raised eyebrow. I shrug. "I've never really met anyone I dislike. I mean, there _are_ people who are rude for me, but I understand the fact that I am the Hokage's son alters the nature of relationships between myself and others. It's not their fault that they feel strained." Jiraya nods. I'm not sure whether he's giving me false confidence or understanding. Damn, it is difficult to read him now that he is focused on me! "My goal is to become a great shinobi, and one day make my father proud. I guess that I might try and become Hokage, then."

He nods at me again. I still can't read him. Honestly, I don't know how I could read him earlier. I guess he didn't expect Sakura or Kiba to read him, and he just turned it up on me. Damn. Everyone overestimates me just because I am the Hokage's son. I may have done well, but I still feel upset whenever I see someone treating me different because of my father. One day, its going to get me killed. Sometimes, I wonder what life would be like if I grew up without my father. Peoples expectations would be so much lower for me – I could actually earn recognition for things I've done, rather than demand it for who I am.

"Well, this was wonderful." Jiraya tells us. "I think you will make a great team. Honestly, I hope that you three pass the test tomorrow."

"What are you talking about Jiraya-sensei?" Kiba roars "We just graduated yesterday!"

Sakura immediately joins in "Yeah! What do you mean, test?"

Jiraya immediately sighs in exasperation "They didn't tell you? I thought they told you." Noticing the still confused looks on our faces, he decided to elaborate "Even if you graduate, your jounin teacher is supposed to test you. If you pass you become genin. If you fail, it is another year of academy for you guys." Before we can protest, which I am sure Kiba and Sakura want to do, Jiraya stops us. "Calm down, calm down. Even though there is a sixty-six percent fail rate, I am sure that you guys will pass. You've got two of the best students in the class, and a member of a powerful clan." He immediately turns away. "Got to go indulge myself in my likes! Training ground 7 a.m. And remember, no breakfast!" With that, he explodes into a cloud of gas.

"Weird…" Sakura says, her mouth hanging open. I do have to admit, none of us can honestly say that we expected that.

"Well, you guys want to go get some ramen?" I ask them. "You know, celebrate our graduation as a team?"

"Yeah!" Kiba replies. Akamaru yips excitedly.

"And you, Sakura?" I ask, not sure which reply I would prefer.

"No!" she angrily tells me. "I have to go and talk to Sasuke-kun. Even though you ruined my chances of being on his team, he'll still fall for me!" And she storms off determinedly. Kiba and I shrug, and head out. Girls are just plain crazy. No point worrying over a lost cause.

We take the stairs down and leave the academy. Passing the room we were in this morning, we see Sasuke's team and Sakura, our teammate apologizing profusely to him. He's just ignoring her, but if it gives her closure, it isn't all that bad.

We get to the ramen bar and sit down. Ichiraku immediately notices us.

"Ah, honorable son of the Hokage! And Inzukuza-san!" Ichiraku is grinning. He is always grinning. In fact, I cannot think of a single time that I have seen him not grinning. It seems a bit disconcerting, someone who smiles that much is either very happy, or determined to always seem happy. I think Ichiraku is genuinely happy. He gets all the excitement of a ninja life without any of the danger through the stories of his frequent customers. He turns in to the deep kitchen that constitutes the bar behind the seats, and calls out to his daughter. "Ayame-chan! We have two customers. What will you two get?"

"Miso ramen." We both tell him at the same time. Immediately I turn to Kiba and exclaim "Jinx! You have to pay!"

Oh yes, today was a good day. I bet that father is proud of me. But to really make him proud, I need to pass tomorrow. Tomorrow will decide everything.

- - -

"Dad! I'm home!" I announce as I slam shut the door to the manner. There's no immediate response, which means that he's in the office. Immediately, I get quiet. He doesn't like being interrupted when he's doing paperwork. When he's 'In the Zone', he says that he gets a lot of paperwork done. And I don't blame him for wanting that. I've seen the ridiculous amounts of signatures that have to go through him.

A couple hours later, dad comes out of the study looking beat. "Hey, kiddo." He smiles wearily. "I assume you had a fun time today at team assignments."

"Yeah." I reply. He had to know the question I was about to ask. There was no way he couldn't know, after assigning the teams like he did. "Why Jiraya?"

"Ugh." He sighs, obviously still mentally exhausted from the paperwork. "How did I know you this was going to come up tonight? It's not favoritism, if that's what you're worried about."

"Then why?" I press. I know it is a bit rude of me to keep asking when he was so clearly out of it, but this was the first time in a while I had been legitimately upset with him. But dad had to have a good answer – he always did!

"Well, before I even considered team composition, I knew Jiraya was going to have to lead a team this year." Dad explains to me. "He… well, you never met him, but he used to be a very focused and dedicated ninja. Lately, he's been… giving up on the profession and retreating into hobbies. He's too valuable to lose, so I hoped that an inspiring young team of new genin would inspire him again." He ruffled my hair. I hated it when he did that, but I let him anyways. It let him feel like a normal father, which I would gladly oblige to.

"Ready for tomorrow's test?" He asks, a twinkle in his eye. He obviously knows something. "I'm not going to give you any details, but I will tell you this. You know that Jiraya was my sensei. Not only did he teach me how to be a ninja, but he taught me to be a sensei myself, and later Hokage. He's a brilliant man; listen to what he has to say if he's being serious."

A quiet dinner passes uneventfully, and we both go to bed. However, I find it difficult to sleep. The ramifications of tomorrow are huge. Sure, we probably won't be sent back to the academy. If anything, dad's tip-off told me that. But it means that its still important. How we act tomorrow will have repercussions not only on how Jiraya-sensei sees us, but how we see each other as a team. With those thoughts still plaguing my consciousness, I stealthily slip out of it myself and gain the relief of rest.

- - -

A.N.: Well, I guess I am back. To all you Bookwyrm fans, don't worry, the next chapter is almost one (84 percent, if you checked my profile page). I have decided to work on some first person stream of consciousness writing with Naruto. Honestly, I think that the form of first person is much better at conveying a story. Unfortunately, it doesn't work with such a dunderhead character as Naruto, which is why this "Smarter Naruto" story is a perfect fit to do it in. It may be a bit OCs, but the storyline is going to be refreshing from typical Naruto stories (I hope). This is a short chapter, expect them to be in the 5000+ word range.

You will notice a button below. Some of you may be tempted not to push it. But please do. I love hearing from people: it's what inspires me to write more. Also, if enough people review, I tack on Omake to the chapters. So review - I command thee!


	2. Chapter 2

- - -

"Wait!" I turn around as I step out of the house. Father is standing in the doorway of the office, something in his hands.

"I want to give you this. It used to belong to your mother. Now that you're officially a ninja, I think she would want you to have it."

I carefully extract the object from his hands. It's a kunai. However, not a design I've ever seen. Two other blades jut out from the main part of the knife, making for a vastly different weapon.

"She used it to injure at the beginning of the fight, so the opponent couldn't continue. This is the last one that's still intact." Father was starting to get teary eyed. Even thirteen years after her death, he was still mourning her passing. Not once in memory could I remember him trying on, meeting new women. The fact that he was willing to part with such a heirloom really means something.

"Thank you." I whisper. I don't know what to feel. Sadness? How can I mourn someone I never lost? Anger? At an event that I never had any control over? As I leave the house, I contemplate this. How can I be familiar to someone I've never met? Of course, I must respect her. She is my mother. Without her, I am incapable of ever existing. But I know nothing of her. Sure, Father tells me stories of her all the time. But how can that measure up to the actual experiences he had with her?

I shake my head. There is no point in thinking about this right now. I have the first session with Jiraya-sensei today. And if I don't hurry now, I'll quite probably be late for it.

- - -

We all stand in front of Jiraya sensei in the middle of the training ground. It's relatively simple: three taijutsu posts and a small expanse of open ground bordered by trees. I can't help but wonder what the test will be - perhaps destroy one of those posts? They seem pretty solid.

"Your mission today is to steal a bell from me." Jiraya explains to us, jingling two metal bells in front of us. "You have the next three hours to get one. Anyone who doesn't successfully get a bell from me gets tied to one of these posts and doesn't get lunch. And…" He trails off mischievously.

"And???" Both Sakura and Kiba ask. He's threading us along for dramatic effect.

"Those unlucky enough not to get a bell also get sent back to the Academy for another year." That statement has an undeniable weight in all of us. Suddenly, I'm focused, determined to bet a bell. Kiba and Sakura are pretty angry. I have to admit, if I wasn't trying so hard to keep calm, I'd be pretty angry too. All those years at the academy, and the tests, and we aren't even guaranteed to be genin?

"You can't just do that!" Kiba yells at him. I can't tell if Kiba's just angry, or actually worried that he won't get a bell.

"Yeah!" Sakura chimes in. I think that's the first time ever Sakura agreed with Kiba on something. That elicits a chortle that I have to stifle to avoid attention.

"I can do anything I want to." Our Sensei replies arrogantly. "Hokage-sama had to beg me to become a sensei. And I'm not taking a team that isn't up to my standards. Teaching you brats is cutting into valuable research time."

That's chilling. Father told me that Jiraya could be a bit selfish sometimes, but this is a bit much.

"So, when I say start, you guys have three hours to get a bell from me. Understand? Okay? Go!"

- - -

While Sakura and I retreat into the treeline as soon as Jiraya says go, Kiba doesn't bother to move. Well, he shifts into a taijutsu stance that can be immediately recognized as the Inuzuka's fighting style. This is amusing. I should have anticipated it - Kiba's strong point was always taijutsu. He wasn't capable of doing much else.

"Don't you want to hide with your friends?" Jiraya asks him, a frown on his face. He evidently didn't expect someone to confront him head on.

"Nope, we've got you outnumbered two to one. Go, Akamaru!" Kiba's trusted partner leaped out of Kiba's jacked and launched itself at Jiraya's belt.

But Akamaru sails straight through the man, plowing into earth. Apparently, Akamaru hit the ground hard, because the dog was out cold.

"Oh, did you mean to hurt little ol' me?" Jiraya appears out of the treeline. "Sorry, but you're going to have to try a little harder."

"You bastard!" Kiba yells. I sigh as loudly as I think I can get away with from my hiding spot. Kiba has always been a head-on confrontation style of person. While it made him pretty useful in a fight, sometimes it made it hard for him to do a lot of other things that ninja were supposed to do. Like be subtle.

Jiraya swats him away with little effort. Kiba's not unconscious, but he's out for the count. Still no sign of Sakura.

Immediately, I understand that there is little chance of any of us getting bells. Jiraya-sama is one of the most famous ninja in konoha history – how are we supposed to sneak a bell off his person? Perhaps he will be kind enough to go easy on us. But there is only one way to find out for sure.

With a mite of effort, I make a clone. Sure, it might not be any good in a fight, but just because it can't doesn't mean that our sensei will know it. Silently, I command the bunshin to attack our sensei. It can't capture the bell, but at least it will give me some idea of what to expect when I attempt to acquire the bell for myself.

The Bunshin makes it barely within fifteen meters of sensei. I'm not quite sure what he does, but with a slight huff, the clone just dissipates.

"You're going to have to do better than that." He calls out, sounding very bored. "Clones are easy to dismantle with one's chakra, if you're properly trained."

He can do that? I've never seen anyone do that before. That's why Jiraya sama is known as the Toad Sage, I guess. Well, not the toad part of course. Sages have studied in arcane arts and mastered them. Defeating Jiraya would not be done through conventional means – that was immediately made evident to me.

But then, I come up with a plan. If I throw a Kunai just slightly off target from him, he won't even bother to defend against it. Then, I can substitute myself for the kunai, and grab a bell off him mid flight. Immediately, I put the plan to action.

Pulling a kunai out of my pouch, I throw it barely to the left of him, and prepare to substitute. Fortunately, he doesn't seem inclined to block an attack that won't even hit him. Grinning, I switch with the knife and blindly grab at our sensei – its hard to get your bearings on the fly. However, I can't help but notice when my hand hits him in the face instead of at the belt line. He lets out a surprised little yelp very unbecoming of someone like him.

Immediately, I roll to avoid injury, and quickly get up into a Taijutsu position facing him. He turns to meet me, rubbing his injured face.

"Minato-kun never told me you had so much spunk!" Jiraya laughed surprised "Slapping the teacher in the face? I don't think I've ever heard of a student doing that before. I quite honestly hope that you pass this – you're pretty interesting."

I decide not to mention that slapping him in the face was completely unintentional. Perhaps it will give me the edge if he overestimates me. With a yell, I charge him. Keeping up the appearances of being aggressive is the only way I can find an opening.

In true Sannin fashion, he sidesteps me and clips me in the back of the head. I stumble and hit the ground hard, but not too hard to get up again.

"But what you make up with energy, you lack in skill. You should have realized that brute force didn't work from your teammate Inuzuka-san. Lesson One: Taijutsu. Be aware and fluid. You must keep up with the situation if you aspire to be victorious."

"I'll show you!" I yell as I get up and attack him again, this time purposely tripping at his feet. I glance up at him. He isn't even bothering to look down at me. He's got a notebook out and he's writing things down in it. This is my chance!

From this position, I spring up and close my fist around a bell, but he slaps my hand away and takes a couple small hops backward. He still isn't even looking at me as he does this.

"Good! Good! You took advantage of my low expectations to try to get a bell! Keep trying, you just might be successful."

Now I'm starting to get mad. He could at least give me the respect of paying attention while he's defeating me. "Doton:** Jishaku** Puru no jutsu!". Aptly named, the Magnet Pull technique was one of the smaller jutsu I learned from my tutors. It was designed to return thrown kunai or attract kunai from a nearby attack, but by focusing all of my will and chakra on the bells, I hoped to make an effective grab upon the bells.

And, surprisingly enough, it succeeds. Both the bells snap off our teacher's belt and fly into my open hands. Immediately, I'm suspicious, because Jiraya did nothing to stop me.

"Oh, whoops!" He replies half-sarcastically. "You seem to have both bells. Contest over!"

- - -

Jiraya dragged Kiba and Sakura over to the post. Apparently, he had spent a special type of solid clone to attack her after she decided not to make an attempt on the bells. Both Kiba and Sakura were pretty beaten up, and exhausted.

"Naruto-san did what you two couldn't." Jiraya tells the other two. I shifted uncomfortable. I didn't like how Jiraya-sensei was showboating my victory over the others. "He was both smart and strong about it. Sakura, you tried to outsmart the situation, but your opportunity never came to succeed."

The girl hung her head shamefully. I'm not sure whether its from her being upset or being just so tired, but I think she might be crying.

"Kiba, you tried to win with a direct attack." Jiraya explains to my friend. "While playing to your strengths is admirable, sometimes you have to understand that you're outmatched and come up with a plan. That is why you failed."

Kiba could only grimace and growl at that. I'm sure he's feeling pretty bad, but he's hiding that through a pretty thick layer of rage at our sensei.

"So, now that Naruto has both the bells, he gets to choose which of you makes it with him to be a genin."

I snap to attention at that one. I have to pick?

"Why me? Why aren't you picking the other one?"

"I would have thought it was obvious. Because you were successful, you get to decide. In real missions, this would be a life or death situation. Only two on your team can survive – the third must sacrifice their lives for the sake of the mission."

My mind races. This truly was a life or death situation. I have to pick properly – the futures of the people in front of me depend on it.

"I pick Kiba." I finally choke out, very nervous about the decision I've made.

"Excellent! I-"

"And Sakura."

Jiraya is frowning. "You can't pick both. That's against the rules. Only two can make it to genin."

"Look, there's two bells." I show to him. "I can do anything I want with them." And walking over to the other two, I give each of them a bell. "See?"

Sakura stares up at me, utterly bewildered. I don't think she expected me to give her a bell at all. As I look into her eyes, I realize I was right, she was crying. I give her a reassuring smile. Pretty girls shouldn't cry.

"So…" Jiraya asked, appraising me. I put on my game face – I can't show weakness to this man, even if he won't be my sensei. "You would sacrifice your future as a ninja so the other two would succeed?"

"Yes." I reply "Kiba is my best friend – I had to pick him. And Sakura… well, Sakura deserves to be a genin. She's worked as hard as anyone in our class. Just because she might not be as physically strong as the others doesn't mean she is less qualified to be a ninja."

"Very well…" He sighs, sounding very disappointed. Was he really that interested in training me? "In that case… you all pass!"

"What!" Kiba jumps up, forgetting all the pain he was in at that moment.

"It's very simple." Jiraya explains to us. "I wanted to see how good your teamwork was. It sucks by the way. Kiba, you rushed in headlong without even thinking of asking Naruto or Sakura for help. Naruto and Sakura, you decided not to help Kiba get the bells showed horrendous teamwork skills on your part."

"But Jiraya-sensei!" Sakura pipes up "You never said we were supposed to team up!"

"Of course, that was the point of this test!" I cut in, furious that I didn't see it myself "He wanted to see if we had it in us to work together, even if we knew that it would mean that one of us would fail."

"Yes!" Jiraya exclaims, beaming. "Which is why Naruto's sacrifice allowed you to pass. He failed himself on purpose for the good of the team."

"That's dumb." Kiba mutters. I sigh under my breath. Sometimes Kiba really needs to learn to have tact.

"Dumb?" Jiraya turns on him. "Is it dumb to know that sometimes you have to give up your life for the sake of others? What about your father? Was it dumb for him to give his own life to save Konoha from the Kyuubi attack thirteen years ago?"

That shuts Kiba up. I really don't like what Jiraya-sensei did there. He picked on Kiba personally just for being a little upset over the test. Sure, it maybe could get Kiba to understand, but he seems equally lacking in tact.

"Now, we're done for today. Meet me here at 5 o'clock tomorrow morning – I've got a little surprise for you."

- - -

"Dumb old man." Kiba complains to me as we go for ramen – a treat from my father when he learned that we passed. "Thinks he knows everything…"

"I wouldn't underestimate him." I tell Kiba, trying to mollify him. "Out of all the instructors we could have, Jiraya-sensei is by far the strongest. Even if you don't like him, you should still respect him."

Like that's ever going to happen. I remember what happened to Iruka after he scolded Kiba very publicly on his first day there. The man had ended up tied to his seat, and Kiba, Chouji, Shikamaru and I all ditched class. Of course, that same stuff wouldn't work on Jiraya, but the same principle applied.

"Ah, my two favorite customers!" Ichiraku-san exclaims. "What can I get for you today?"

"Miso ramen, extra large."

"Make that double!"

Ichiraku laughs good-naturedly at Kiba's enthusiasm. Its strange, in a village full of ninjas trained to kill, how can such a nice man exist? It just doesn't make sense. But I put my ethical concerns aside – I've been fretting about this for the past eight years – now its time to let loose a bit.

"I still can't believe you got the bells like that!" Kiba exclaims. "It just seemed so… anticlimactic!"

"Oh, old Jiraya put you guys through the bell test?" Ichiraku asks, looking up from the ramen he's cooking up for us.

"You know about that?"

"Of course!" The old man has a far away expression on his face. "I was just an assistant cook at the time, but I remember when Jiraya brought his first team in here. They were so excited that they passed – apparently, little Minato figured it out and got the team to work together. Ah, those were great times… well, here we go!"

Kiba and I stare hungrily at the bowl. I guess we hadn't realized how much of an appetite we had worked up from the training session this morning. We dig in with the fury that only starving children can maintain. When we finish, I pay Ichiraku-san and Kiba and I go our separate ways. We have training tomorrow.

- - -

"Good morning!" Jiraya beams. We're all a little droopy, but what do you expect? It's five in the morning. We just shifted our sleep schedule by four hours, and Jiraya-sensei just expects us to shrug it off.

"Today, rather than bothering with silly little missions like walking dogs and the like, we'll be climbing trees."

There is a stunned silence from all of us.

"Climbing Trees?" Kiba cracks up. "That's stupid."

"Oh, that's not all." Jiraya has another twinkle in his eye. I don't like that. That means some form of unpleasant surprise. "You have to do it without your hands."

"What? That's impossible!"

"No it isn't. Here, let me show you." And Jiraya walks to the nearest tree, not even bothering to stop. And then, the impossible happens. He walks up the tree as if it was flat ground. He continues until he is standing upside down on one of the higher up branches. "You are going to learn one of the very basic skills that all ninja must know. Not only does this help when you're fighting in a forest or on any steep surface, but it also gives you better chakra control. Do you know exactly how I'm doing this?"

Sakura immediately raises your hand. "Iruka-sensei mentioned this once. You concentrate your chakra in your feet and use that to stick to the tree."

"Very good! I want you to climb up the trees using only your feet. Take a kunai and mark your highest point on the tree so that you can watch your improvement." Jiraya tells us. He looks very comical upside-down. His long hair juts directly down (or up?) from his head. "Now, I'm not going to give you any more pointers. Its important you learn how to do this on your own, or you'll never learn to do it. I'll be back at lunch time so that you guys can take a break. If you'll excuse me, I have to go do some research."

And before we can even complain or ask some questions, he's gone. Damn, he's fast.

"Lazy bastard." Kiba mutters. "He just wants to avoid teaching us."

I can't help but agree. Jiraya-sensei seems to be a very bad teacher. I wonder how Father became so strong with Jiraya as his teacher – maybe he had to learn it all by himself.

"Well, we might as well get started." I reply, pulling a kunai out of my pouch. Picking a nice wide tree that seems easy to work with, I begin. Putting one foot on the tree, I try to focus my chakra into my foot. It tingles as I focus my energies there. Then, without warning, my foot bursts off the tree, leaving a scorch mark. I tumble backwards, not anticipating the sudden explosion.

"What the hell was that?" Kiba exclaims from his tree. He doesn't seem to be doing much better.

"No idea." I simply reply. I guess I overdid it… maybe if I used less chakra, the reaction would be less severe?

I try again, this time, barely concentrating any energy into my feet. As I plant my foot on the tree, I already know it isn't going to work. I sigh with frustration. Why won't this work?

I look over at Sakura. She's having a little more success than the rest of us. Each trip, she makes it about three steps up before sliding down. I'm not surprised – girls typically have more chakra control than the boys.

I keep on trying, gradually increasing the amount of chakra in my feet, but to no avail. It's either too little and I slide down after one step, or I put too much into the technique and catapult myself off of the tree. It seems impossible for me to succeed here.

Looking back over at Kiba, even he's starting to get some success with the technique. He can make a couple of unsteady steps before gradually losing focus and sliding off the tree.

I can't help but be frustrated - why were they successful and not me? It just didn't make sense! I was the top rookie in the class – shouldn't I be able to learn this quicker than the others?

- - -

"Lunch time!" Jiraya-sama announces from behind us, returning to the clearing. I give a small start – had it really been that long? It had only felt like a couple hours, not seven.

Thankfully, Jiraya-sensei brought food for us, so we don't have to go back into town to procure it for ourselves. Kiba and Akamaru immediately dig in. Even Sakura isn't so shy about eating politely.

"So, how's the training?" Jiraya asks us, laying back peacefully.

"Really hard." Kiba says, barely making time for words in between bites "I can only get up a couple steps."

"Same as Kiba." Sakura replies "I've gotten up to about ten steps, but I can't stay on for very long."

"Well, it's supposed to be hard; it's the foundation of most Ninjutsu and Genjutsu. If you can do this, then it means you're capable of doing more advanced techniques. How about you, Naruto?"

I gulp nervously. "I haven't been able to do it at all, Jiraya-sensei. I always use far too much or far too little chakra."

He stares at me interestedly. "Hm… that's interesting. I would have expected you to have better results than the others." I hang my head in shame.

"Well, I guess it can't be helped. Minato-kun told me that you had an unusually amount of Chakra… I'll give you some pointers. First, running at the tree will help. The forward momentum will let you stick to the tree for a bit longer than if you just tried walking up. Secondly, try meditating a little before you try to climb the tree – Minato-kun taught you how to meditate, right?"

I nod. When I was first learning jutsu with my tutors, they taught me meditating so I could learn how to use chakra.

"I'm off again – I'll be back at five!" Jiraya leaves without another word.

"Back to work, I guess…" Kiba mutters, quickly forgetting the charity of a free lunch. "Running at the tree, eh? I guess it's worth a shot."

"Like you're ever going to figure this one out, dog-breath." Sakura jeers at him.

"What! I'll show you!"

I step in before the fight can escalate. I know that they're pretty tired and cranky, but they still shouldn't be fighting. "Guys, guys. Let's settle this peacefully. Sakura, you think he can't learn this? Well, let's have a contest. The last person to master this technique out of the three of us has to buy dinner after practice for a week. Deal?"

"Deal!" They both glare at each other. I can almost see the fire in their eyes. I sigh. Are they ever going to get along?

Turning away from them, I close my eyes and try to find my center. I try to take my chakras and focus them at my feet, willing it to flow from my core. Opening my eyes, I glare at the tree. Then, I run at it.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five steps! It wasn't as much as Sakura could do earlier, but it's still more than Kiba, and more importantly more than I had been able to achieve earlier. Perhaps there was something to Jiraya-sensei's training.

- - -

We finish up our last runs up the tree when Jiraya arrives. We're all exhausted. Sakura's pretty much got the entire exercise down, but she still sometimes falls off. I'm pretty sure that's just because she's exhausted. Kiba and I can make it about twenty steps each before jumping off the tree.

"Good!" Jiraya's voice booms out, echoing across the forest. He's pretty loud for a ninja. "I see my hints are helping! Go home, and meet me tomorrow at nine o'clock at the hot springs. After all your hard work, its time for some relaxation."

We all cheer at this, though not very loud – we're still quite tired. A day at the spa will definitely we a welcome relaxation after working so hard today. All in good spirits, we head our separate ways.

Just a little while later, I make it home. Peeking my head into dad's home office, I see he's asleep on a pile of paperwork, drooling all over it.

"Wake up." I prod him not so gently. If you're strong enough to be Hokage, you're tough enough to get poked pretty hard.

"Mmmph..." He groans, still refusing to get up. It's only 5:30 in the afternoon!

"Lazy bum! Get up!"

"Fine, fine." He sighs, extricating himself from the paperwork. "So, how was training with Jiraya?"

I tell him all about it. The tree exercise, how I couldn't do it as well as the others, how Jiraya only gave us hints when we had trouble doing it ourselves, but that his advice was very helpful. Father smiles reminiscently. I'm glad. With all the stress he has to endure, some relaxation in his life is due.

"What's for dinner?" I ask as I put my tools away in my room.

"Ramen."

"Again? Can't we eat something else for dinner? I had Ichiraku's for lunch, you know."

"Fine, fine. How about sushi? I've heard there's some new place that just opened - immigrants from Wave or somesuch."

I beam "Sounds great!"

We head out for this restaurant. It's called Same-fin. Shark fin. Appropriate for a seafood restaurant. The waiter doesn't recognize who father is at first - I guess he's from Wave. However, as soon as all the guests notice, the news gets passed on to the owner who comes out to greet us. He's a kind looking old man with a face wrinkled by long years of work. I like to think of him as a shorter, fatter version of Ichiraku.

"Welcome to Same-fin! I'm Wanizame Kota, here, let me seat you."

"Thank you, Wanizame-san. Your hospitality here does you honor." My father replies respectfully. A career of working with foreign diplomats has made him a very smooth talker.

Because of my father's reputation, we receive dinner on the house. Kota-san will probably actually make money off our patronage, to non-ninja villagers of Konoha, the Hokage's public tastes are the vogue - especially for the bacholrettes of the village. It was all excellent - I haven't had sushi before, so I don't know what they are by name. There's some with shrimp, some with yellow fin, a few purely rice and vegetables. By the end of the meal, most of the patrons have already left. After thanking the owner for the wonderful meal, we leave.

Once home, we say goodnight to each other. I go to bed, father back to the office. He says he's got a couple more things to take care of before going to bed tonight. He always works too hard. Sometimes I wish that he would hire some assistants to help out with the monotony of his job, but he never will. He has too much pride in the position to sully it by doing the work. His refusal to change the Hokage's job with the times will be the death of him.

Unlike the previous evening, I fall asleep quickly. The long day full of exertion and good food robs me of my consciousness quite quickly.

- - -

A.N.: Another chapter finished. Whoo!

I just want to give a warning to all the NaruSaku fans out there – this will not be immediate gratification. Sakura doesn't even really get along with the rest of the group yet. I'm probably going to go to a traditional timeskip point (though for obviously different reasons – no Sasuke running), and the romance will begin upon Naruto's return or some point slightly after. So, if you're willing to be patient, I think it'll be worth it, but don't expect anything in the next couple of chapters.

Many thanks to tennesdesi91 and dbzgtfan2004 for being the first (and only so far) reviewers. Its great to hear from my readers – not only does it tell me what I'm doing right and what I'm doing wrong, but it also shows that you guys actually want me to continue the fic. So for the love of all that is holy, please review! I've decided as an incentive that if you meet my requested # of reviews, I will write an Omake at the end of the next chapter. It will be written in the third person, but will fit in "somewhat" fluffwise to my fic and be at least 1000 words long. To earn chapter 3's Omake, I require 12 reviews total (including the ones already submitted). Virtual cookies will also be provided. If you can't tell, I love reviews.


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